The world of Hans Zimmer - DirectOut products provide the right signal

posted:

04/03/2020

The production "The world of Hans Zimmer - a Symphonic Celebration" has been touring since 2018. The tour, initially focused on Germany, has already been extended several times and is now enthusing countless fans in other European countries. In this impressive audiovisual experience, the world-famous themes of the German film composer were arranged for orchestra for the first time. For the authorized tour, the artist has made the entire music selection and is supervising the artistic development. The production is being conducted by Gavin Greenaway, a long-time companion of Hans Zimmer.

From day one the technical direction and implementation of this demanding concert event has been in the hands of Soundhouse Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH from Haßfurt in Bavaria with project manager Philipp Stapf. The company has chosen on two products of the German manufacturer DirectOut: the ANDIAMO for high-quality AD/DA conversion and the EXBOX.MD for uninterrupted provision of the output signal.

The EXBOX.MD handles the conversion between Dante and MADI, while DirectOut's proprietary EARS feature (Enhanced Automatic Redundancy Switching) ensures uninterrupted playback of the MADI output. One of two Dante streams with 32 channels each is transmitted from the EXBOX.MD via MADI to the ANDIAMO for DA conversion. If the trigger signal fails in one of the two Dante streams, the audio channels of the other Dante stream are automatically switched to the MADI output. Additionally, the force function of EARS allows to manually select the Dante stream. By using the control software globcon both devices can be easily monitored and controlled.

Jürgen Erhard, event technician of Soundhouse, is amazed by the interaction of hardware and software:

"It is important for us to create maximum reliability with an automatic monitoring for the production and additionally be able to intervene manually if the situation requires it. An absolute killer feature is also the control of the ANDIAMO via EXBOX.MD as network interface via globcon bridge, because you don´t need any extra connection between the two devices. Via globcon and globcon bridge we always keep the overview and have the chance to react immediately".

Jan Ehrlich, CEO of DirectOut:

"The request from Soundhouse for a manually controllable redundancy switchover was promptly implemented with the force function in EARS and we are very pleased that we have been able to realize a good idea in this way, which contributes to the success of this wonderful production".

About DirectOut GmbH

DirectOut GmbH was founded in 2008 by a team of professional sound engineers headed up by Stephan Flock. The company specializes in developing essential pro audio connectivity, networking and bridging solutions for broadcast, studio, live and installed sound applications. Unique in that all members of the DirectOut development team are still active professional sound engineers, the company is thus fully focused on real-world demands and problem solving. The product range, marketed under the brand of DirectOut Technologies®, offers solutions that build bridges between different audio worlds and make systems and formats more flexible. Audio formats supported include MADI, SoundGrid, Dante, RAVENNA and the standards AES67 and SMPTE ST2110-30/31. Headquartered in Mittweida, Germany, DirectOut products are distributed worldwide.